A subject near and dear to my heart. But yeah, no worries OP, this new class definitely seems to be leaning towards the Arcanist job they've had planned for a while.

Fencer is a very good bet for the starting class to unlock Red Mage, as it's been done that way at least once back in FFTA : http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/F...ctics_Advance)

I do so hope that one major change from XI is that XIV's RDM is now frontline. I like the idea of a rapier-wielding spellsword.